Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 28: Not So Happy Birthday

Tseng looked up in surprise as the door to his office was thrown wide and a somewhat put-out Saya walked in. She paused in front of his desk, hands on her hips, an accusing look on her face.

“Well?” she demanded. Tseng blinked, not certain what the expected response was.

“… Well, what?” he asked, baffled by why she would be angry with him.

“Well, what? Is that all yeh have ta say fer yerself?”

Tseng sighed and calmly set down his pen, pushing the paperwork he’d been working on away from him, and folded his hands in front of him on the desktop.

“As I keep trying to explain to you people… I am not psychic. Now, would you care to tell me what it is that has you so obviously upset and what it has to do with me?”

“Reno.”

The Turk lieutenant roughly pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment.

“What’s he done now?” he asked, warily.

“Done? Are yeh really that oblivious? The poor wee thing hasn’t done anythin’, yeh daft pain in the arse! Haven’t yeh noticed how off he is taday? What in the wide world have yeh done ta him? He hasn’t been himself all mornin’!”

Tseng’s expression shifted to one of concern. He hadn’t noticed anything amiss with the rookie… but then, he’d been exceptionally busy this week. Most of Reno’s training had been conducted by other members of the team, on Tseng’s instructions. This morning had been Saya’s turn.

“What exactly is off about him today?” he asked, his full and undivided attention now on the younger Turk. Their departure from home had been a bit more rushed that usual today, but if something had been on the teenager’s mind, surely he would have noticed…

“Oh, fer Odin’s sake… Yeh really are oblivious. Tseng, the poor thing’s just been goin’ through the motions since he got here. I couldn’t get so much as a smile outta him on the range earlier. He’s distracted, he’s moody, he’s… ugh… he’s just not Reno taday. I’m really worried about him…”

“Where is he now?”

“I sent him off ta lunch a little early, hopin’ some food might help. And I sent Rude off with him ta keep an eye on him.”

Tseng nodded and stood. His paperwork would have to wait. Right now, he had to determine what was wrong with his rookie.

---

“What’s up with you?”

Reno poked unenthusiastically at his mostly untouched plate and sighed. He didn’t want to explain. He just wanted to get through the day. He’d done his best to hide the fact that he was struggling with that at the moment… but obviously it wasn’t enough to fool Rude. Or Saya, for that matter. He kinda thought that Kai and Luca might’ve picked up on it earlier, too.

“… Nothin’,” he finally replied and forced down a bite of pepper steak. It tasted like nothing, and he wasn’t sure if that was because the building’s cafeteria was responsible for it, or just because of his current mood.

“…”

Rude was still looking at him with at annoying expression of concern. Reno sighed and shook his head.

“I’m just havin’ a bad day, that’s all. And I don’t wanna talk about it, so don’t ask… Okay?”

He hated talking about it. He hated even thinking about it. But today it was kind of impossible… No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the memories eventually surfaced. Tomorrow would be better. It always was. But today? Today was going to suck. The sooner it was over, the better.

Rude was still watching him.

“Seriously? You just gonna fuckin’ stare at me the whole time I’m eatin’?” the redhead muttered, irritated. In the back of his mind, he knew he was being unreasonable. Rude was his friend, and he was worried about him. It was understandable, given the way he’d been behaving all morning. But, dammit, he just wanted to be left alone right now!

“… Just… Let me know if I can help. Alright?”

Reno managed one more bite before the overwhelming need to leave finally got the better of him. He just couldn’t deal with sympathy right now, for some reason. He shoved his plate away and stood up from the table.

“I’ll see ya in the training hall,” he replied, before making a hasty departure, leaving his dining companion behind, somewhat stunned.

Tseng had witnessed the retreat from across the room, but hadn’t been fast enough to stop the redhead and question him. Instead, he made his way over to Rude, coming up behind him.

“What is going on with him?” he asked, startling the other rookie. Rude choked slightly on the bite he’d just taken and spent the next few moments coughing violently.

“… Could you maybe not do that while I’m eating, sir?” he replied once the fit had passed.

“My apologies.”

“Something’s bothering him. He wouldn’t tell me what.”

Tseng sighed, and took a seat beside him. “Has something happened that I’m not aware of?”

Rude shrugged. “Not that I’ve heard. He seemed fine yesterday.”

“You’ll be joining him in the training hall later, I believe?” the Turk lieutenant asked, and Rude nodded. “Let me know if he says anything to you. I’ll… do what I can on my end.”

“Yes, sir.”

---

Tseng spent the next hour going through every incident report, disciplinary reprimand, and – just in case the rookie had somehow run afoul of Soldier or building security without him hearing about it – every internal status report he could get his hands on for the week. When he came up empty, he went back a week farther. But there was simply nothing work-related that would explain his rookie’s obvious distress.

That left something personal, and for the last ten minutes he’d been sitting at his desk trying desperately to remember whether or not there was anything he might have done to upset the redhead recently. Aside from being slightly annoyed with the teenager a few nights ago, and informing him as such, when he’d neglected to reclaim his laundry from the dryer in a timely fashion… nothing came to mind. Up until this morning, Reno had seemed happy, healthy, and content.

He frowned slightly. Perhaps ‘healthy’ was the issue. The rookie was never overly enthusiastic about paying a visit to Medical… particularly now that Dr. Ward had released him from his weekly weigh-ins. It was entirely possible that Reno wasn’t feeling well and was doing his best to hide it to avoid the doctor. Tseng sighed… He wasn’t going to like being ordered down to the medical suite, but better safe than sorry.

He glanced at his watch. If everything was moving along on time today, the redhead would have just finished hand-to-hand training with Remy. He had a scheduled break afterward, and he could usually be found in the lounge with Rude.

Tseng made his way there quickly, intent on insisting on a checkup… but found only one rookie present. And not the one he was looking for.

“Where is he?” he asked, and Rude shook his head.

“Not sure. He took off while I was still in the locker room after training.”

The Turk lieutenant groaned softly. Reno almost seemed to be avoiding him. Or maybe he was just trying to avoid everyone.

“Did he say anything that might tell us something.”

“… Just that he didn’t want to talk about it. Which is the same thing he said at lunch. I didn’t want to push him any more. He was getting kind of pissed at me.”

“Hey, Rude! We’re headin’ out!” a voice called out from the door. Tres paused mid-stride upon seeing the senior Turk, “Oh… Sorry. Am I interruptin’?”

“No… I believe we were finished anyway,” Tseng replied. Rude nodded and got to his feet.

“… Let me know if you figure it out before I do, sir,” he said, before following Tres into the hall.

---

“Soooo… You ever gonna tell me what you ‘n Tseng were up to?” Tres asked as the train spiraled down into the Slums.

“…”

The senior Turk laughed at the rookie’s silence. “Well… can’t exactly fault ya for keepin’ a secret, I guess.”

He laid back, letting his head rest against the window as he sat sprawled on the uncomfortable plastic bench.

“… It’s Reno,” Rude said at last. “Tseng’s worried about him.”

Tres sat up. “Huh. Sound like you’re a little worried yourself. What’s goin’ on?”

“That’s the problem. We’re not sure. He’s acting… strange.”

“He’s always a little strange, ya ask me,” Tres teased. When Rude glared at him, he frowned. “You’re serious, huh? Okay… so what’s he doin’ that’s so ‘strange’?”

Rude shook his head. “It’s not really what he’s doing. He just seems…” He paused for a second, trying to decide on the right word. “Hmph… you know, if it were anyone else, I’d almost say he seemed depressed.”

“Reno? Depressed?” Tres replied, barking a laugh. “That’s rich. For someone who grew up in the Slums… and Sector Two at that… that kid’s a goddamn ray of sunshine.”

“I’m mean it. Something’s really bothering him… and he won’t tell anyone what.”

“… Well? What the hell have I been trainin’ ya for all this time, then? You know how to handle an investigation like that. If your suspect won’t talk, talk to someone who knows your suspect.”

Rude blinked and wondered why that idea hadn’t occurred to him before. Of course he should be treating this like an investigation. And he already knew exactly who he needed to talk to. He also had a pretty good idea where to find her this time of day. Tres seemed to see the light of realization dawning on the young rookie.

“Let me take a wild guess,” he snickered, “You’d like to make a quick side visit to see a certain little Honeybee our resident redhead is acquainted with…”

---

He finally found him in the pool. Which explained why he wasn’t answering his phone.

Reno was floating peacefully, staring up at the ceiling, and Tseng sort of hated to interrupt him. After all, he was technically still on a break, and he looked so relaxed in the water. A moment later, however, the redhead seemed to sense that he was being watched. He lifted his head, and turned his gaze on the senior Turk.

“What? Am I’m late gettin’ back to work or somethin’?” he asked, as he grudgingly swam over to the side of the pool. Tseng shook his head.

“No… you’re free for another ten minutes or so. I was simply concerned when you didn’t answer your phone.”

“… Somethin’ up?” Reno asked.

“You tell me.” Tseng responded, in a slightly more accusing tone than he’d intended. The redhead rolled his eyes.

“Did Rude say somethin’ to ya? I fuckin’ told him to drop it already…” he replied, pushing off the wall and putting some distance between himself and his mentor.

“Actually, Saya was the first to register her concern. Rude shared it. Reno… What’s wrong?”

“Tch… can’t a guy just have a bad fuckin’ day?” he groused.

“So long as that’s all it is… Is it?”

“Yeah. It is. Now can we drop it already?”

Tseng sighed and took a couple of steps closer to the water. “You’re feeling alright… aren’t you?”

“Oh, for fucks sake…” the redhead groaned. “I’m not sick. I’m not hurt. I’m just havin’ a really shitty day, and I’d appreciate it if everyone would just leave me the hell alone about it. Okay?!”

With that, he swam to the opposite side of the pool, hauled himself out of the water, and stormed off to the locker room. Tseng watched him go. Despite the rookie’s reassurances that he wasn’t ill or injured, the senior Turk couldn’t shake his concern for the teenager. But Rude had been right. Pushing him for an explanation was only making the redhead angry. He was going to have to change tactics.

---

It was almost four thirty by the time Rude and Tres made their way back to Wall Market from Sector Eight. Tres had agreed to help Rude with his personal ‘investigation’… but only after they finished the one they’d been sent down to conduct first. It had taken most of the afternoon, and it had been a struggle for the rookie to remain focused… something which hadn’t escaped the senior Turk’s notice.

“Oh, alright…” Tres sighed. “Tell ya what. I’ll cut ya loose early, and report back to headquarters by myself. You go and talk to the rentgirl and see if she has any idea what’s crawled up Reno’s ass today.”

“… Thanks.” Rude replied, with a faint smile.

“Just watch yourself down here, ‘kay, kiddo? Don’t go wanderin’ off somewhere you shouldn’t be and for Ifrit’s sake don’t go causin’ any trouble with Corneo or his other girls. I’d like to see ya come back in one piece,” he said, starting off toward the train. A moment later, he turned back, adding, “And stay the hell outta the bars! Just ’cause they’ll serve ya down here doesn’t mean you got any business bein’ in ’em.”

Rude chuckled and offered up a wave to his departing colleague. Most people seemed to think that Tres was a kind of a self-centered asshole… not to mention thoroughly jaded by his time in the slums. And to be fair, he kind of was. Rude had very quickly learned there was more to him, however. The man had zero tolerance for bullshit and wasn’t afraid of calling anyone out on it, sure… but he’d been very protective of the shy rookie, almost from day one. And ever since Rude had made the decision to specialize in intelligence, Tres had really become more of a mentor to him than Veld was.

He turned and headed towards the Honeybee Inn. It was late in the afternoon, and the after-work crowd would be arriving soon from the Plate. If he wanted to have any hope of talking to Lira before she was inundated with clients, he needed to hurry. He swallowed apprehensively as he walked up the steps of the brothel, smiling awkwardly at the scantily clad girls out front, tempting passersby into the lobby.

He really didn’t know why he got so nervous around the opposite sex. He was admittedly shy all around… but women. Dear Odin, women terrified him sometimes. It was a completely irrational fear, and he knew it… but that knowledge never seemed to help.

Maybe that was why he’d hit it off with Margret a couple months back. She hadn’t cared when he’d gotten tongue-tied and stumbled over his words at first, or when he’d said something so ridiculously lame that he half-expected her to get up and walk away. Two months now, and he still hadn’t managed to drive her off… though his schedule didn’t always lend itself to seeing her as much as he would have liked. Still, they’d gone out four or five times now, and he’d grown more and more comfortable around her each time.

“Hey, there,” a seductive voice purred, interrupting his train of thought, and Rude quickly snapped back to the present. Now was not the time to be thinking about his, admittedly kind of pathetic, love life. “You know what you want? Or do you…” She paused and sidled up to him, wrapping an arm around his waist, and placed her lips close to his ear, “… need a list of our… services?”

Rude shuddered slightly at the sensation of warm breath tickling his ear, and swallowed sharply.

“… I-is Lira… um… a-available?” he stammered. The girl smiled and walked over to the counter, flipping through a large book.

“You’re in luck. Lira’s got an opening in about five minutes.” She grinned, and looked back up at him. “A hundred gil for an hour… or if you’re… ahem… really eager, fifty for a half hour.”

The Turk flushed bright red, and somewhat shakily pulled a fifty gil note from his pocket. The woman giggled softly and took it, tucking it into her cleavage.

“Right this way…” she said, warmly. She showed Rude into a small room near the back. A large bed took up most of the space, and once she left, he hesitantly took a seat on the edge of it to wait. He fidgeted uncomfortably, trying not to think too hard about the fact that he’d just paid to meet with a prostitute. In a brothel. While he was, technically, still on the job.

Reno would probably find that hilarious. The redhead seemed to love ribbing him about his virgin status. Honestly, Rude didn’t really mind too much. He knew his friend didn’t really mean anything by it. But he still felt decidedly out of his element any time the subject of sex came up. He had no experience, and that made him uncomfortable with it. And the only way to get experience would be to actually have sex… It was a bit of a catch twenty-two.

More than once, he’d wondered if maybe he should just pay a rentgirl and get it over with… if only to get himself out of that circular mindset. But he’d never been able to bring himself to go through with it. Maybe it was a little old-fashioned, but he kind of wanted his first time to be someone he actually liked. Not loved, necessarily… just liked enough that he didn’t feel completely inept and awkward.

There was a soft knock at the door, and a moment later, it opened. Lira stepped inside, and Rude hurriedly got to his feet. She was in red lingerie… that frankly covered even less than he would have expected… and matching, spiked heels. She smiled widely when she realized who he was.

“Rude?” She giggled and sauntered over to him, pressing herself up against him, and kissed him. “I wondered why someone Claire said has probably never been here would be askin’ for me by name… You already know what you want? Or should we just see what feels good…?”

“I-I…” he stammered, his voice cracking embarrassingly as Lira’s hand caressed his inner thigh, and slowly made its way up between his legs. “I’m not really here for… that. I need to…” He squeaked slightly in surprise as she squeezed him. “IneedtoaskyouaboutReno,” he continued in a single breathless rush. He sighed in relief as she relented. “It’s important.”

“Is he alright?” she asked, suddenly concerned. She took a seat on the bed and patted the mattress next to her. Rude quickly joined her.

“… That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.”

---

It was after five. Tseng had been waiting for the redhead for almost ten minutes now, ready to head home for the evening… and hopefully coax some answers out of him while he plied him with food from his favorite restaurant. Reno, however, seemed to have vanished, and once again, he wasn’t answering his PHS.

Luca had told him just moments ago that he’d seen him on the first floor, heading for the main entrance, and the Turk lieutenant was torn between being worried and being extremely annoyed that the teen hadn’t had the courtesy to at least inform him that he’d had plans after work. At last, he gave an irritated huff and started toward the elevators. Reno was perfectly capable of navigating the city by now. He would find his way home eventually. And when he did, he would tell his mentor exactly what was going on… whether he wanted to or not.

---

Reno sat in silence for a long while, knees pulled up against his chest as he leaned back against the cold stone behind him. He hated coming here… and he hated that he couldn’t not come here.

“I’m doin’ okay,” he whispered softly. “Finally got what I wanted. I made it topside.”

There was no answer from the person he was addressing, and he didn’t bother to look up to see if they were listening.

“Got someone lookin’ after me, now, too… so… I guess maybe that might make ya feel better. He’s strict as fuck. But he takes real good care of me. Took me to the Gold Saucer for my birthday last month, too. I had the best time…”

There was a loud clang, and the redhead looked up, faintly alarmed. This place was generally considered neutral territory by the gangs during the day… but it was getting late, and when night fell in the Slums, all bets were off. Normally, he’d be long gone by now… but he’d been stuck working all day. This was the earliest he’d been able to get down here.

He could hear voices in the distance, and judging by the volume and the less than polite language, he was pretty sure they weren’t here for the same reason he was.

“I gotta go, Mom…” he said quietly. He stood and ran his hand gently over the smooth gravestone, before turning and heading for the cemetery’s east exit. It would be a slightly longer trek back to the train station in Wall Market, but if those voices belonged to one of the Sector Two gangs, it would be well worth the extra time.

He was almost in the clear. Just a few more yards and he’d be through the gate and on his way home. Almost as soon as he thought it, however, something slammed into him from his right. The heavy weight took him to the ground, hard. Laughter followed.

“Well, lookie what we got here,” a voice said from above him. Reno craned his neck, trying to see around the huge lump of a boy that was pinning him down. The source of the taunt came into view, and the redhead felt his stomach drop. “Don’t I know you?” Jericho asked.

Reno glared at the other boy, but the gang leader only laughed.

“Ooh, now I remember. You’re that pathetic little shit who got all pissed I fucked your girl… I’da thought you’d’ve been dead in a gutter a long time ago.” He pulled a knife from his belt. “Guess I didn’t cut ya deep enough.”

“Go to hell, Jericho,” Reno spat back.

“You first,” he snickered, and motioned his minion aside, raising the blade. As soon as the majority of other boy’s weight was off his chest, Reno punched upwards, striking him in the throat, and rolled to one side, clear of the fat bastard’s bulk as he fell, gasping. He was on his feet in no time, taking up a defensive stance. He might have lost his last fight with Jericho, but he was Turk now. He wasn’t going to lose this one.

“Well, well… the little ginger slum rat grew some balls…” Jericho laughed. Now that he wasn’t lying on the ground, Reno suddenly became very aware that there were two other thuggish-looking teens leaning up against a nearby statue, watching their leader. He was outnumbered. Crap.

Jericho slashed at him, but before he even came close to making contact, Reno heard the loud crack of flesh on flesh and one of the boys off to the side suddenly careened directly into his attacker, sending the gang leader stumbling. Reno very quickly noted that that was no accident. He was out cold, blood gushing from his nose.

Reno’s gaze snapped back up in the direction he’d been so effortlessly thrown from, and he quickly spotted a familiar figure emerging from the shadows of the statue. Rude shrugged and cracked his knuckles threateningly.

“… Just evening up the odds.”

Jericho growled angrily, but stopped short of actually attacking… and Reno suddenly realized that he was scared. When he noticed that – unlike himself, as he’d changed into street clothes before he’d left the building – Rude was still in uniform, he knew why. Jericho knew a fucking Turk when he saw one.

“This doesn’t concern you, Turk…” Jericho said… but now his voice had taken on a note of uncertainty.

“Hmph… Does when you attack my friend,” Rude replied, taking a step forward, and Reno grinned. He’d never heard his fellow rookie sound quite so menacing before.

Jericho’s other compatriot – the one who was still standing – seemed to rethink the whole idea of beating the shit out of the redhead. A moment later, he took off running.

“Goddammit, you fuckin’ wuss! Get your ass back here!” Jericho called after him. The boy didn’t even look back. With the fight now two on one, the gang leader, too, seemed to be reconsidering his stance.

“Ah, fuck you anyway. You’re not worth my time,” he spat, and then beat a hasty retreat, leaving his two injured friends to fend for themselves once they recovered. Reno relaxed.

“How the fuck’d you know I was here?” he asked. Rude smirked, and started leading him toward the gate.

“Lira.”

“… She… uh… She tell ya what I was doin’ down here?” he asked, somewhat nervously.

“She told me enough. Said you needed to visit your mom.”

The redhead sighed, and nodded. They made their way quickly out of the sector, and started the long walk back to Wall Market.

“… It’s her birthday today,” Reno eventually volunteered.

---

By the time they reached the Plate-side Sector Five train station – with a brief detour, before leaving the Slums, to Lira’s boarding house to assure her that the redhead was alright – it was getting late. And by the time they’d hopped the express and made it over to to Sector One, it was going on ten forty-five, and Rude was wishing he’d thought to ask Tres to drop his truck off at the station for him when he got back to the office. Reno sighed heavily and shook his head.

“Tseng’s gonna be pissed.”

Rude pulled him tight against his side for a moment as the train rolled to a stop.

“He won’t be once you explain.”

“Yeah. ‘Cause that’s somethin’ I’m lookin’ forward to…” he said, with a sarcastic snort.

“… Want me to stick around?”

Reno nodded silently. They made their way across the platform, and out to the street. The Turk lieutenant’s apartment wasn’t an especially long walk from where they’d gotten off, but the redhead’s apprehension seemed to grow with every block. Rude wasn’t sure he quite understood why he was so hesitant. He could certainly understand not wanting to talk about losing a mother… He had plenty of experience with that himself. But Tseng wasn’t going to punish the rookie for being late getting home from visiting her grave, and he wasn’t sure why Reno was acting like they were on their way to his execution.

It wasn’t long before they were walking up the little concrete path to Tseng’s front door. Reno took a deep, calming breath, and turned the doorknob, stepping inside with Rude not far behind.

“Where in the Nine Hells have you been?” Tseng demanded as soon as he was through the door, anger more than slightly evident in his voice. Reno visibly cringed.

“… I had to… do somethin’…” he replied, lamely, which was clearly the wrong way to open this discussion. The Turks’ second looked positively livid for a moment, before quickly reining in his temper.

“Go to bed. We’ll discuss this in the morning… when I’m less likely to say something I regret. Rude, thank you for returning him.”

Rude grabbed Reno’s shoulder as he moved to silently comply with the order, and pulled him back.

“… No. You need to talk to him now.” Under normal circumstances, directly contradicting a superior – let alone the second in command – would have been unthinkable. Rude disliked unnecessary confrontation. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and it seemed that confrontation was necessary. Even if it ultimately meant a reprimand for him. Reno, he suddenly realized, was more important to him than maintaining his, up until now, spotless disciplinary record.

Tseng raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question the rookie’s unexpected declaration.

“Alright. I’m listening. Where were you?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest, and staring the redhead down. Reno sighed.

“… Sector Two.” he replied. “… I had to go. I always go today. I couldn’t just… not. She’d’ve been alone. I couldn’t just leave her there like that… Not today.”

Rude frowned and let his arm rest over his friend’s shoulders. He was rambling… and vaguely at that. Though, it did seem to have at least one positive effect. Tseng’s very obvious anger seemed to have cooled noticeably at the realization of just how upset the rookie really was at the moment.

“Who?” he asked, in a softer tone, but the redhead couldn’t seem to get the words out. Finally, Rude took pity on him.

“His mother. It’s her birthday. He was visiting her grave.”

Tseng appeared to be rendered speechless for a moment… something Rude had never personally witnessed in his relatively short time as a Turk. It took him a moment to recover.

“Come sit down,” he said at last, and Rude gently nudged his friend forward, over to the couch. Tseng took a seat next to the pair. “Why didn’t you simply tell me?”

Reno dropped his gaze to the carpet. “I don’t like talkin’ about it. And if I’da said somethin’ you woulda asked about her, and I don’t think I coulda gone into all that ‘n still been able to make it through the day at work…”

“We’re not at work now,” Rude prodded, and the redhead’s shoulders slumped slightly.

“… Don’t make me…” he whispered softly.

Tseng reached over and let his fingers run gently along the back of Reno’s head, and then down his spine, and the redhead sighed and closed his eyes.

“I think it would ultimately be good for you if you did…” he urged.

He was silent for a several long minutes, but eventually, Reno glanced up, a somewhat resigned look in his eyes, as if he’d accepted the inevitable.

“… She died when I was five,” he began, hesitantly. “It was a couple months after Christmas, and it was still cold as fuck out. I couldn’t sleep in my room ’cause the window was broken and it was like a goddamn freezer in there, ‘specially at night… so mom made me a bed in front of the stove so I’d be warm enough.”

“You couldn’t sleep in her room?” Tseng asked, but the rookie shook his head.

“Not when she had a customer with her, I couldn’t. And a lot of times she worked pretty late. I’d usually be asleep by the time they left.”

“… She was a prostitute, then,” the Wutaiian Turk surmised, and the redhead immediately looked up, defiantly.

“Yeah… what of it? She did the best she could, okay?! Not her fault being a goddamn rentgirl pays better than just about any other job in the sector! She had to feed us both somehow!”

Tseng shook his head. “I wasn’t judging. Merely making an observation. Perhaps I should… refrain… from doing so for the time being, however…”

Rude couldn’t help but smirk a little at that. He’d gotten the distinct impression from Tres and some of the other senior Turks that it wasn’t often that Tseng admitted that he needed to just shut up and listen once in awhile.

“What happened?” the other rookie prodded, before silence could take hold of his friend again. Reno swallowed sharply and fingered the edge of his t-shirt.

“One night I woke up ‘n I was freezin’ my ass off. Stove went out… I didn’t know how to relight it, so… I broke Mom’s most important rule. I went into her room while the door was shut.” He wiped at his eyes in annoyance at the moisture that stubbornly refused to stop collecting there. “I wasn’t allowed to. Ever. If it was shut, she was workin’, ‘n she didn’t want me seein’ that. But I was so fuckin’ cold…”

He paused for a moment to take a deep breath and then pushed on.

“I thought it’d be okay, just this once… There weren’t any customers when I went to bed, and I thought maybe she just forgot and closed it outta habit or somethin’. It was dark inside. All the curtains were shut, so even the light from mako streetlamps couldn’t get in. I crawled into bed with her… and… and somethin’ wasn’t right. And then I felt somethin’ wet all over the blankets… so… I turned on the light.” He stopped again, unwilling to continue for a moment. And then it all came out in a rush. “She cut her fuckin’ wrists!” he sobbed, “With me sleepin’ in the next room…”

“Reno…” Tseng breathed. He pulled his young protege closer to him, doing his best to comfort him.

Rude, meanwhile, was frozen. He hadn’t realized… He’d known his friend was an orphan, certainly, but to become one in such a horrifying way…

“It was my fault…” the redhead, whose face was now buried against the senior Turk’s shoulder, whispered. “The way all those assholes treated her, and then gettin’ stuck with me on top of all that shit… It was too much for her. She just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Rude’s heart broke at those words. It was bad enough knowing what had happened to Reno’s mother… but knowing that he blamed himself for her death was almost too much for him. A part of him wished he’d never asked.

A part of him was glad he did.

By then, Tseng was rubbing slow, gentle circles against the rookie’s back. Reno sniffled softly and tightened his grip on his mentor.

“… I don’t wanna ever be a burden to someone I care about again,” he said, “… and I try not to be. But… sometimes I don’t think, and I do stupid shit, and I piss you off, and I’m sorry!”

Tseng frowned and pushed the redhead back.

“Reno… look at me,” he replied, and the teenager silently obeyed, raising his eyes just enough to see Tseng’s face. “You are not a burden I’m stuck with. You’re a very promising young Turk that I willingly took under my care. I won’t ever regret that choice… no matter how much you piss me off from time to time.”

Reno didn’t say anything. He simply let his head drop back onto Tseng’s shoulder and closed his eyes again.

“Come on. It’s late, and I think you would do well with a good night’s sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”

Rude watched as the senior Turk prodded the redhead to his feet and guided him off down the hallway. They disappeared into Reno’s bedroom for a few minutes, before Tseng emerged again, this time alone. He rejoined the other rookie in the living room moments later.

“Thank you for finding him. I… should have done so myself.” He sighed heavily. “And thank you for stopping me from doing something as cruel as punishing a seventeen year old for visiting a grave.”

The rookie shrugged. “He’s my friend.”

“He’s fortunate you are,” Tseng replied with a faint smile. “How did you manage to track him down, anyway?”

Rude awkwardly cleared his throat. “I… paid for a half hour at the Honeybee Inn so I could talk to his friend, Lira…” he replied, trying to ignore the heat that was rising in his cheeks. Tseng chuckled quietly.

“That was certainly… innovative.” He smiled and gestured to the door. “Reno insisted I take you home… though I would have offered anyway. Shall we?”

Rude nodded and let Tseng escort him into the night.

---

Rude yawned widely as he made his way into work the next morning. It was close to midnight by the time Tseng had dropped him off… and he’d had trouble falling asleep. Actually… he was pretty sure he hadn’tfallen asleep at all. He’d just had too many things on his mind, the most obvious being Reno.

Speaking of whom, he discovered the redhead sitting on the couch in the lounge as he dragged himself through the doors. Reno glanced up at him as soon as he noticed his arrival.

“Fuck, man… You look the way Iprobably should…”

The bald Turk snorted softly and headed straight for the coffee pot.

“Guess that means you slept okay?” he queried.

“… Yeah, mostly. I think maybe finally tellin’ someone about shit mighta actually… helped. A little. I mean, Lira knows most of the story, but… I’ve never told her everything.” He glanced out the window, not quite willing to hold Rude’s gaze any longer. “Um… I… I’m sorry for unloadin’ on you like that last night.”

Rude took a large gulp of absolutely vile coffee – Veld must have made it this morning – and walked over to the redhead. He set his mug down on the windowsill and wordlessly reached out… and put him in a headlock.

“H-hey!” the other rookie cried, squirming to get out of his grasp. He succeeded only at flailing ineffectively while Rude snickered.

“Don’t be idiot,” he replied, with a slight grin.

“Aw, get off me!” the redhead muttered. Rude finally released him, and Reno staggered back a step or two and rolled his eyes. “Was the headlock really necessary to tell me that?” he asked, though the corners of his mouth quirked upwards in a barely repressed smile.

“Anything to get the message through that thick skull of yours,” he answered.

“Asshole,” Reno laughed.

~end chapter 28~